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Re:Powerwall 2 and Integrated Solar by pjc50 on Saturday October 29, 2016 @07:56AM (#12823595)
I have a solar installation which makes it slightly harder to work out what I've actually used - I know what I've generated, and what I've paid for, but since the metering isn't net that doesn't quite let me work out actual usage.

I have however got a very nifty graph of my solar generation (3.8kW roof system, 56N Scotland): https://flatline.org.uk/daystats.html

What I think you can see if you poke about the graph is that solar is very variable in practice. There are days in summer when it doesn't break 500W at all, and in winter there's basically nothing for a couple of months.

I'm happy with the installation and its return in feed-in-tariffs, but I wouldn't consider going off-grid unless I had to and had space to put up a wind turbine.

Edit: my heating and cooking energy comes from mains natural gas, as well; currently this is far cheaper than electricity. Might be useful to include that in comparisons.

Re:Powerwall 2 and Integrated Solar by jackrh on Saturday October 29, 2016 @01:00PM (#12824893)
I don't know if this is available in the UK but in the US we can get devices like the one I got that allows us to monitor our usage and calculate usage vs generation. https://rainforestautomation.com/rfa-z109-eagle/

http://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?userid=41746 This web site collates all the data from your solar system (again, if it supports that like my enphase system) and the power company. $10 per year donation.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pvoutput-pro/id994297624?mt=... And this little app adds a beautiful way to explore the data. $2 to get all the features.

This is all a bit involved to setup but the end product, that iOS app, is just brilliant. It just takes the data from pvoutput and massages it into an addicitive portable display. 1.5 years later and if the monitoring system is down for more than 12 hours my wife yells at me.

I am ignoring the powerwall because we have a sweetheart deal with net energy metering in southern california and the power delivery has been rock solid. So it would just be a minor insurance policy in case of a catastrophic event.